Contact

LAWRENCE — The public is invited to the semiannual summer tour of the University of Kansas Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 26.

The garden, situated just east of the Lawrence Municipal Airport, includes research plantings, a large show garden and the KU Student Farm. Garden pathways are ADA-compliant, and the site is open to the public dawn to dusk. Directions and a map are available here.

The show garden area is maintained in cooperation with the Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners, who consult with scientists at the Kansas Biological Survey, which manages the 5-acre site as part of the KU Field Station. The Master Gardeners also work with KU students at the site. Biological Survey staff and students, along with Master Gardeners, will be on hand to answer questions.

Several other types of research studies also are based at the site, including grassland studies as well as a collaboration with scientists from the University of California, Davis, on the Kansan brood of 17-year cicadas.

The garden, established in 2010, serves as a gateway to the KU Field Station, as it is the first of several Field Station sites on East 1600 Road in Douglas County north of Highway 40. Land for the garden site was made available by KU Endowment.

The KU Field Station is managed by the Kansas Biological Survey, a KU research center emphasizing natural sciences study in areas such as water, air and soil quality; land use; global change biology; environmental engineering; GIS mapping; and aquatic ecology and watersheds. The core area of the Field Station, north of Lawrence, consists of 1,800 acres with five miles of public trails.

Photo: University of Kansas Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden tours are held each year in the summer and fall. The next event will be at 10 a.m. May 26.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission
is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries
that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.